Letter: Use Sandy's wreckage to create jobs

A person on Colony Street in Staten Island is overwhelmed by the extent of the damage to the neighborhood of Midland Beach caused by a tidal surge during superstorm Sandy. (Nov. 4, 2012) Photo Credit: Charles Eckert

Wouldn't it be amazing if the federal government took advantage of the massive destruction to our infrastructure in the wake of superstorm Sandy ["And now this," News, Nov. 8]?

The rail, bridge and subway systems along the Interstate 95 corridor in Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland have taken an enormous hit. Miles of underground electrical lines and communication lines were exposed to salt water flooding.

Shoreline communities from Delaware to Rhode Island have been altered by tidal surge and, in some cases, irrevocably changed. Ponds, creeks, lakes and rivers became part of their communities by overflowing their banks.

All this storm damage is in the public domain, and, if ever there was an opportunity for the federal government to do some good, this is it. Repair projects could immediately put households back on the tax rolls by providing new employment.

Other infrastructure projects also need to be tackled. They include rebuilding the electrical grid in the Northeast, building dams and levees to contain water in flood plains, and complementary alternative energy projects.

This brings an opportunity equal to, if not greater than, the automobile industry bailout, and could provide an even larger jump-start to the economy.